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Sometimes in sports, you have to be good to be lucky, or lucky to be good.
The LG Twins have had their share of luck to be on the cusp of reaching the next playoff round in the Korea Baseball Organization.
The Twins entered the ongoing first round series against the NC Dinos as the underdog on paper. The Dinos, in just their second year of existence, finished with the third-best regular season record, at 70-57-1. The Twins finished 7 1/2 games behind in fourth place and qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.
The Twins, though, have turned the table by taking the first two games of the best-of-five series. In their 4-2 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday, LG enjoyed some lucky breaks.
Up 3-0 in the bottom fourth, the Twins faced their first jam, as the Dinos put runners at the corners with one out. Eric Thames, their cleanup hitter who had team highs of 37 home runs and 121 RBIs in the regular season, stepped up to the plate.
Thames drilled the first pitch he saw from LG starter Woo Kyu-min for a screaming liner to right center, and it appeared to be a sure double. Na Sung-bum, the man on first with good speed, could also have scored to cut the deficit to one.
Instead, second baseman Kim Yong-eui timed his leap perfectly and used all of his 187-centimeter frame to snatch the ball. Kim then doubled off Na at first base to end the inning.
Frustrated Thames threw down his helmet on his way back to the dugout.
Kim, normally a first baseman who occasionally spelled Park Kyung-soo at second this season, has been the starting second baseman in the postseason, as Park, with an injured right thigh, was left off the playoff roster.
Park is listed at 178 centimeters tall, and it’s conceivable that he wouldn’t have made the catch Wednesday.
The Twins got an even bigger break in the top of the ninth inning, with the game still hanging in the balance.
The Dinos had scored twice in the seventh to make it 3-2 for the Twins and finally got the crowd at Masan Baseball Stadium back into the game. The Twins were desperately seeking an insurance run or two for more breathing room.
Things looked bleak, though, when cleanup Lee Byung-kyu hit a one-out pop fly to second with a runner on first. It seemed to be a harmless play until Moon Sun-jae, the pinch runner on first, took off before Lee made contact and slid hard into second base with the ball still in the air.
Moon promptly got back to his feet and ran toward third base.
As the bizarre play developed, second baseman Park Min-woo had trouble tracking the pop up and dropped the ball.
By the time the ball bounced off the ground, Moon had rounded third. He trotted home for a gift-wrapped run.
It first appeared that Moon was unaware that there was only one out, but he later claimed it wasn’t the case, saying he was only trying to steal second base.
“I should have looked at the play, but I ended up sliding into second,” Moon said sheepishly. “I turned and saw the second baseman trying to make the catch. I figured it was too late to return to first base anyway and just kept running. All the while, I was thinking to myself, ‘Why am I running?’ It was really embarrassing, but fortunately, we won the game.” (Yonhap)
The LG Twins have had their share of luck to be on the cusp of reaching the next playoff round in the Korea Baseball Organization.
The Twins entered the ongoing first round series against the NC Dinos as the underdog on paper. The Dinos, in just their second year of existence, finished with the third-best regular season record, at 70-57-1. The Twins finished 7 1/2 games behind in fourth place and qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.
The Twins, though, have turned the table by taking the first two games of the best-of-five series. In their 4-2 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday, LG enjoyed some lucky breaks.
Up 3-0 in the bottom fourth, the Twins faced their first jam, as the Dinos put runners at the corners with one out. Eric Thames, their cleanup hitter who had team highs of 37 home runs and 121 RBIs in the regular season, stepped up to the plate.
Thames drilled the first pitch he saw from LG starter Woo Kyu-min for a screaming liner to right center, and it appeared to be a sure double. Na Sung-bum, the man on first with good speed, could also have scored to cut the deficit to one.
Instead, second baseman Kim Yong-eui timed his leap perfectly and used all of his 187-centimeter frame to snatch the ball. Kim then doubled off Na at first base to end the inning.
Frustrated Thames threw down his helmet on his way back to the dugout.
Kim, normally a first baseman who occasionally spelled Park Kyung-soo at second this season, has been the starting second baseman in the postseason, as Park, with an injured right thigh, was left off the playoff roster.
Park is listed at 178 centimeters tall, and it’s conceivable that he wouldn’t have made the catch Wednesday.
The Twins got an even bigger break in the top of the ninth inning, with the game still hanging in the balance.
The Dinos had scored twice in the seventh to make it 3-2 for the Twins and finally got the crowd at Masan Baseball Stadium back into the game. The Twins were desperately seeking an insurance run or two for more breathing room.
Things looked bleak, though, when cleanup Lee Byung-kyu hit a one-out pop fly to second with a runner on first. It seemed to be a harmless play until Moon Sun-jae, the pinch runner on first, took off before Lee made contact and slid hard into second base with the ball still in the air.
Moon promptly got back to his feet and ran toward third base.
As the bizarre play developed, second baseman Park Min-woo had trouble tracking the pop up and dropped the ball.
By the time the ball bounced off the ground, Moon had rounded third. He trotted home for a gift-wrapped run.
It first appeared that Moon was unaware that there was only one out, but he later claimed it wasn’t the case, saying he was only trying to steal second base.
“I should have looked at the play, but I ended up sliding into second,” Moon said sheepishly. “I turned and saw the second baseman trying to make the catch. I figured it was too late to return to first base anyway and just kept running. All the while, I was thinking to myself, ‘Why am I running?’ It was really embarrassing, but fortunately, we won the game.” (Yonhap)
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Articles by Korea Herald
